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Linus Torvalds became US citizen

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Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#41

Post by tokenadult »

ojbyrne wrote: post #19
nkassis wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's interesting. I've heard that dual citizenship wasn't exactly liked by the US government. I was under the impression that US citizens that move to other countries had to renounce their US citizenship before becoming citizen of the other country.

http://www.richw.org/dualcit/faq.html#noway Struck down by the courts a very long time ago.

Read that more carefully: "The Supreme Court chose to leave in place the requirement that new citizens must renounce their old citizenship during US naturalization." Presumably, Linus was naturalized, rather than having a claim to United States citizenship from birth.

Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#42

Post by tokenadult »

duke_sam wrote: post #34
kevindication wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, you can still do it but there can be some awkward consequences. This is highly unlikely, but for instance if you're eligible for a draft, and both countries draft you, one of them is not going to be happy with your response. There are probably some more likely scenarios where your obligations to one of your nations are in conflict with the other.

It also has security clearance implications. Also if he moves back to Finland but remains a US citizen won't the IRS still be able to go after him for tax?

Yes, United States citizens are liable for taxation on their worldwide income (unless there is a tax treaty between the United States and the other country in question).

Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#43

Post by mike-cardwell »

apgwoz wrote: post #33
kiuyhjk wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or being so inflexible with regard to immigration that the only way to work there without facing immediate deportation if you change jobs is to become a citizen. I can live and work permanently in 27 countries (including Finland) without having to change nationality.

> I can live and work permanently in 27 countries (including Finland) without having to change nationality. How? I'd love to be able to do that.

By living in a European country.

Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#44

Post by [deleted] »

avar wrote: post #30
dctoedt wrote: post #20

Not to be all nationalistic or anything (and it's been said before), but it is interesting that people seem to immigrate to the U.S. far more than they emigrate from it.

I think not learning a second language has a lot to do with it. It's easy for most Europeans to pick up another language since they've already mastered a foreign language or two (including English). But it's much harder for someone from the US to move to central Europe, aside from the UK and some enclaves that speak English.

[deleted]

Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#45

Post by compay »

forinti wrote: post #40
unwind wrote: post #4

A quick check of Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_nationality_law#Dual_ci... ) seems to indicate that he's still a Finn, since Finland permits dual citizenship. The USA ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_nationality_law#D... ) seems to permit it, too. Of course I can't know if Mr Torvalds has done anything in particular to only be a US citizen, but at least that doesn't seem to be the defaul…

But don't you have to renounce all other allegiances? Uruguayan law says that even if you renounce your uruguayan citizenship, you still keep it. I think this was put in place exactly because lots of Uruguayans were leaving for the USA (lots of Uruguayans is something like 50).

No, the USA does not require that.

Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#46

Post by portman »

forinti wrote: post #40
unwind wrote: post #4

A quick check of Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_nationality_law#Dual_ci... ) seems to indicate that he's still a Finn, since Finland permits dual citizenship. The USA ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_nationality_law#D... ) seems to permit it, too. Of course I can't know if Mr Torvalds has done anything in particular to only be a US citizen, but at least that doesn't seem to be the defaul…

But don't you have to renounce all other allegiances? Uruguayan law says that even if you renounce your uruguayan citizenship, you still keep it. I think this was put in place exactly because lots of Uruguayans were leaving for the USA (lots of Uruguayans is something like 50).

I'm a dual citizen of the UK and US.

Among my close friends, I know Canadian, Israeli, and Australian dual-citizens.

I've never heard of having to "renounce all other allegiances". (Note: it's entirely possible that there is some obscure method of obtaining US citizenship that requires it; but that's not the norm.)

Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#47

Post by exit »

scrrr wrote: post #38

Countries are such an old-school concept somehow. EDIT: Downvotes? Come on. Especially today, especially in our world of modern technology, physical location is less important than ever before. Where's the sci-fi novel where they abolished countries after they found out we all live on a tiny planet orbiting one of a billion stars?

yes. symptom of a dark age.

Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#48

Post by russell_h »

tokenadult wrote: post #41
ojbyrne wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://www.richw.org/dualcit/faq.html#noway Struck down by the courts a very long time ago.

Read that more carefully: "The Supreme Court chose to leave in place the requirement that new citizens must renounce their old citizenship during US naturalization." Presumably, Linus was naturalized, rather than having a claim to United States citizenship from birth.

Be that as it may, dual citizenship is definitely allowed, and not at all uncommon in the U.S., especially among European immigrants from what I've seen.

Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#49

Post by ugh »

apgwoz wrote: post #33
kiuyhjk wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or being so inflexible with regard to immigration that the only way to work there without facing immediate deportation if you change jobs is to become a citizen. I can live and work permanently in 27 countries (including Finland) without having to change nationality.

> I can live and work permanently in 27 countries (including Finland) without having to change nationality. How? I'd love to be able to do that.

He is a EU Citizen. That’s not that much better than the freedom to work or live wherever you want within the US. It only sounds so impressive because those 27 nations are all substantially smaller than the US. It’s nonetheless one of those achievements of European integration I most certainly don’t want to give up.

Re: Linus Torvalds became US citizen

#50

Post by jbarham »

kiuyhjk wrote: post #26
sp332 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The USA, for being appealing enough to make Linus want to (first) move here and (now) take on citizenship, instead of just telnetting from Finland - or anywhere else on the planet he might have liked better.

Or being so inflexible with regard to immigration that the only way to work there without facing immediate deportation if you change jobs is to become a citizen. I can live and work permanently in 27 countries (including Finland) without having to change nationality.

Incorrect. Green card holders (i.e., US permanent residents, but non-citizens) do not face "immediate deportation" if they change jobs.
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